1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera having panning and/or tilting functionality and a method for such a camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cameras are widely used in order to make it possible to see or study remote sites. For example, cameras are used in surveillance systems and for presenting specific objects or surroundings to persons having access to such a camera via a network. For the reason of extending the area that may be viewed via a camera, or for other reasons, different types of pan/tilt solutions has been used in the past.
The most common solutions has been to provide the camera with a motor driven mechanism for turning the camera in the horizontal direction, i.e. panning, in the vertical direction, i.e. tilting, or in both the horizontal and vertical direction, i.e. panning and tilting, in order to scan a greater area than is possible with a stationary camera. Other implementations of the pan and/or tilt functionality have also been presented. One such implementation is to turn only the objective of the camera and another is to position a turning mirror in front of the camera.
All these solutions involves mechanical turning of devices of the camera or in the near proximity of the camera in order to achieve pan and/or tilt functionality. As commonly known, such turning of devices inevitably results in mechanical deterioration of at least the components involved in the turning. Thus, the cameras equipped with the above mentioned implementations of pan tilt functionality have to be serviced frequently, which results in extra work and, if the cameras are not maintained regularly, in the loss of pan tilt functionality until the camera is properly maintained. Further, cameras having pan tilt functionality implemented according to the above mentioned tends to be much more expensive than a camera having a fixed view. Accordingly, the present arrangements for providing a camera with pan and/or tilt functionality are unsatisfactory.